Short answer
No. Isaiah says "his name shall be called" Mighty God (﷾). That gives the child a name, not a nature. Hebrew names often contain God (﷾): Elijah means "my God is Yahweh". A child who "is born" had a beginning, but God (﷾) has none. In the next verse, the LORD of hosts does the work, and the child sits on David's throne. The Talmud, the old collection of Jewish teaching, applies the verse to King Hezekiah. Rashi, a Jewish commentator of the eleventh century, reads the grand titles as praise of God (﷾). The Bible also calls human leaders "father": Joseph was made "a father to Pharaoh". And no verse of the New Testament calls Jesus "Mighty God". Islam's answer is that Jesus was a messenger of God (﷾), and God (﷾) alone is God.
Full explanation
How Christians read the verse
Christians read Isaiah 9:6 as a prophecy of Jesus. They say it came true when he was born. They point to three things. First, the same title, el gibbor ("mighty God"), is used of God himself in Isaiah 10:21. Second, the angel in Luke promises Jesus the throne of David, as Isaiah 9:7 does. Third, Matthew applies the start of this prophecy, Isaiah 9:1-2, to Jesus' preaching in Galilee.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
“The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.”
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
“The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
A name, not a nature
The verse says "his name shall be called". It gives a name. It does not say the child will be God. Hebrew names were often built on God's (﷾) own names and titles. Elijah means "my God is Yahweh". Eliab means "my God is father". Michael means "who is like God?". Isaiah 7:14 names a child Immanuel, "God with us", yet the child in Matthew is named Jesus. Jesus' own Hebrew name, Yeshua, is a form of Joshua and means "Yahweh saves". None of these names made the one who bore it God.
Explains Hebrew personal names built on the names of God: Elijah as "my God is Yahweh", Eliab as "my God is father", Michael as "who is like God?", Immanuel as "with us is God", and Joshua as "Yahweh is salvation".
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
| Name or title | What it means |
|---|---|
| Elijah | “my God is Yahweh” |
| Eliab | “my God is father” |
| Michael | “who is like God?” |
| Immanuel | “God with us”, the name in Isaiah 7:14. Yet the child in Matthew is named Jesus. |
| Jesus (Yeshua) | “Yahweh saves”. It is a form of the name Joshua. |
| Mighty (gibbor) | The ordinary Hebrew word for a warrior. Jeremiah uses it of Babylon's mighty men, and Joshua of Jericho's mighty men of valour. |
None of these names made the one who bore it God.
Mighty and father are used of men
The Hebrew word gibbor, "mighty", is the ordinary word for a warrior. Jeremiah uses it of Babylon's mighty men. The book of Joshua uses it of Jericho's mighty men of valour. "Father" was a title for a leader and protector. God (﷾) makes Eliakim, a royal official, "a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem". Joseph says God (﷾) made him "a father to Pharaoh". Neither man was God. Scripture even calls Moses "a god to Pharaoh", and the judges of Israel "gods".
“And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.”
“And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.”
“And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.”
“So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”
“And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.”
“I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”
| The words | What they show |
|---|---|
| “unto us a child is born” | A child who is born had a beginning. God (﷾) is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2). |
| “the government shall be upon his shoulder” | The next verse puts him “upon the throne of David”, a man's throne, and says “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this”. God (﷾) acts; the child receives. |
| “The mighty God” | The verse says “his name shall be called”: it gives a name, not a nature. Many Hebrew names contain God (﷾). Elijah means “my God is Yahweh”, yet Elijah was not God. |
| “The everlasting Father” | “Father” was a title for a leader. God (﷾) made the steward Eliakim “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem”. |
No verse of the New Testament calls Jesus “Mighty God”.
Who does the work in verse 7
The next verse shows who acts and who receives. The child sits on the throne of David, which is a man's throne. Isaiah ends: the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. So the LORD is the one who acts. A child who "is born" had a beginning, but God (﷾) is "from everlasting to everlasting". Christians apply Isaiah 11 to the same king. There the spirit of the LORD rests on him, and he lives in the fear of the LORD. One who fears the LORD is not the LORD.
“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
“And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:”
How Jewish tradition reads it
In Jewish Bibles this verse is 9:5. The Jewish Publication Society's 1917 translation does not turn the titles into a list of divine names. It leaves them untranslated, as a Hebrew name. Its footnote explains the name as a sentence about God (﷾): wonderful in counsel is God the Mighty, the everlasting Father, the ruler of peace. The Talmud applies the verse to King Hezekiah and counts its titles as his names. Rashi reads the grand titles as describing God (﷾), the one who names the child. He reads "Prince of Peace" as the child's name.
“For a child is born unto us, a son is given unto us; and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor Abi-ad-sar-shalom;”
Reads Isaiah 9:5-6 (9:6-7 in Christian Bibles) as about King Hezekiah. It counts the titles of the verse as Hezekiah's eight names, and says God sought to make Hezekiah the Messiah but held back, because Hezekiah had not sung praise to Him.
Applies the verse to Hezekiah, son of King Ahaz. Rashi reads Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God and Everlasting Father as describing God, the one who gives the child his name, and "Prince of Peace" as the name given to Hezekiah.
What the New Testament never says
No verse of the New Testament calls Jesus "Mighty God". Matthew quotes the opening of this very chapter and applies it to Jesus. Yet he never quotes the child's titles a few verses later. When the angel in Luke takes up Isaiah's promise, he calls Jesus "the Son of the Highest". He says the Lord God will give him David's throne. That is a gift from God (﷾), not a claim to be God. Jesus was once accused of making himself God. He answered from the Psalms that scripture calls men "gods". He called himself the Son of God, the one whom the Father had sanctified and sent.
“The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
“The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”
“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”
Verse by verse
Isaiah 10:21 — Nevi'im, Yeshayahu, chapter 10, verse 21
“The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.”
Cited for
El gibbor is God's own title one chapter later, so the child who bears it must be God.
The response
Hebrew names regularly carry God's (﷾) own titles. Eliab says "my God is father", and Elijah says "my God is Yahweh". Yet these men were not God or the Father. A name praises God (﷾). It does not turn its bearer into God (﷾). That is how Rashi reads 9:6: the titles describe God (﷾), who names the child.
Where it lands — The shared title shows whom the name praises, not who the child is.
Isaiah 9:6 — Nevi'im, Yeshayahu, chapter 9, verse 6
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Cited for
Avi-ad means "Father of eternity": an eternal ruler who cares for his people as a father. Only God is eternal, so the child must be God.
The response
Psalm 21 uses the same Hebrew word ad ("for ever") of a human king. It says God (﷾) gave the king "length of days for ever and ever". "Father" is also a ruler's title. God (﷾) makes Eliakim a father to Jerusalem, and Joseph a father to Pharaoh.
Where it lands — Both words of the title are used of human rulers, so the title does not make the child God.
John 20:28 — Gospel of John, chapter 20, verse 28
“And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”
Cited for
Thomas called Jesus "my Lord and my God", so the New Testament does call him God.
The response
Scripture gives the word god to men. Moses was made "a god to Pharaoh", and the judges of Israel were called "gods". Jesus himself pointed to that verse when he was accused of making himself God. He called himself the Son of God, sent by the Father. Earlier in the same chapter he said "my God, and your God" (John 20:17).
Where it lands — The word god used of Jesus does not mean what Isaiah's "Mighty God" is claimed to mean, and Jesus names a God above him.
Titus 2:13 — Epistle to Titus, chapter 2, verse 13
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
Cited for
Titus 2:13 calls Jesus "the great God and our Saviour", which is the same as Mighty God.
The response
In the King James Version the verse speaks of "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ". It names God and the Saviour one after the other. The letter opens by describing Paul as "a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (Titus 1:1). It greets Titus from "God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Titus 1:4), keeping God (﷾) and Jesus apart. Nothing in it quotes Isaiah 9:6.
Where it lands — Titus does not take up Isaiah's title, and the letter itself keeps God (﷾) and Jesus apart.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Isaiah 9:6 foretells the birth of Jesus, the divine Messiah. El gibbor is a title of God, so the child who bears it is God the Son.
Isaiah 10:21 uses el gibbor, "the mighty God", of God himself.
Rebuttal
True: el gibbor is a title of God (﷾) in Isaiah 10:21. But in 9:6 the child is only "called" it, as a name. Hebrew names carry God's (﷾) titles without making their bearers God: Eliab means "my God is father".
The child of Isaiah 9:6 is Jesus, and the title "mighty God" shows his divine nature.
Rebuttal
Grant that Luke's angel echoes Isaiah for Jesus. The child is still only "called" by these titles, and no verse of the New Testament calls Jesus "Mighty God". Isaiah 9:7 says the LORD of hosts performs the work, and Luke's angel says the Lord God will give Jesus David's throne.
Jewish
The child is King Hezekiah. The titles either are his names, as the Talmud counts them, or praise the God who named him, as Rashi reads them.
The Talmud applies the verse to Hezekiah and counts its titles as his eight names.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees with the Talmud on the point that matters: these titles were names for a man, and he was not God. Whoever the child was, Isaiah 9:7 says the zeal of the LORD of hosts performs the work.
Rashi reads Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God and Everlasting Father as describing God, who names the child Prince of Peace.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees with Rashi's main point: the titles praise God (﷾), who names the child, and do not make the child God. The LORD of hosts is the one who acts.
The JPS 1917 translation leaves the titles untranslated, as a Hebrew name. Its footnote explains that name as a sentence about God: wonderful in counsel is God the Mighty.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees with this reading: the name is a sentence about God (﷾), so it praises him and does not call the child God (﷾). The LORD of hosts does the work, as 9:7 says.
The Islamic perspective
Whoever the child is, the verse gives him a name, not the nature of God (﷾). The prophecy itself sets the LORD above him, and Jesus never claimed the title.
The verse says "his name shall be called". Hebrew names often contain God's (﷾) names without making their bearers divine.
In Isaiah 9:7 the LORD of hosts performs the work, and the child receives the throne of David.
A child who is born has a beginning, while God (﷾) is from everlasting to everlasting.
Gibbor, "mighty", is used of soldiers, and "father" of human leaders.
The New Testament never calls Jesus "Mighty God"; Luke's angel says God (﷾) will give him David's throne.
Psalm 21 uses ad, "for ever", the word inside avi-ad ("Everlasting Father"), of a human king's length of days.